


You

by rosyknuckles



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Dreams, Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams vs. Reality, Gen, High School, Inspired by Music, Neighbors, Nightmares, Rain, Reader-Insert, Walking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26658922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosyknuckles/pseuds/rosyknuckles
Summary: You have recurring nightmares of crashing waves and often wake up feeling out of breath, drowning without the presence of water. Months of enduring this, and then you meet Kim Minseok.Fic based on Xiumin's SM Station solo single, "You"





	You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story based on Xiumin's SM Station solo single, "You." I haven't had time to update it with the succeeding chapters, but I hope you enjoy this one I have.

Your eyes flutter open at the sound of a light rain outside.

The careful patter of raindrops against glass slowly draws your eyes to your bedroom window, which shows nothing but the continuing night. _I can go back to sleep again_ , you think with a kind of sleepy excitement. You clutch your big turtle plush closer to your chest. _Perhaps see you at the falling of the wave._

*

It has been a few months since you had your last nightmare. That last one was especially haunting, dry and heavy with the creep of terror. As with most of your nightmares ever since that night, you were set upon an endless path upon which you had to keep running. A giant wave was always looming behind you, threatening a great crash upon your increasingly sore body, and then, a painful drowning. And yet the wave never fell—it remained moving, loud and steady, curdling water always rushing behind you. Your instinct told you that the moment your legs gave out and you stopped running, the water would come for you—consume your body without meeting any resistance. You had to keep running. You had to, even though you could almost feel the water rushing into your face, filling your nostrils, robbing you of any chance at breathing. But the wave never fell.

That last nightmare was especially terrible because that time there was a rock. The rock came out of nowhere. _You could not have anticipated it_ , you tell yourself over and over in your bed. You couldn’t have anticipated running for that long, only to trip over a rock that never came into view from far away. You couldn’t have anticipated that for the first time in months, your legs would finally give out. The wave would finally fall.

*

The next morning, the rain had gone. You wake up beside your turtle, which fills you with a calm that could have only arrived after the nightmares have stopped. It’s another day after the wave had fallen. Another day of seeing he who meets you there.

Your grandmother left you some miso soup, still warm, in a pot on the kitchen stove. _Perfect_. You smile. _There’s enough for two people._ You put two bowls out onto the table. In your excitement, you drop one of the spoons, causing a light clang on the tiled floor.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. I just dropped a spoon.” You gesture to the pot. “Mama left us some soup. Probably because it’s cold out.”

You and your older brother Sehun spend a few minutes eating. “I’ll be out late today,” he says. You nod, too busy turning the radio dial. The forecast you settle on declares it to be a cloudy day. A question comes to your mind. _No rain?_

“No rain,” the weatherman’s voice crackles out.

*

The night that changed everything had no rain either. No rain, at least, before the nightmares came. Your mother and father were on their way home from a trip out to the city. You politely refused attendance, saying you had wanted to see some turtles up close at the beach. You think they’re going to start laying eggs. When the nightmares started, every night felt like a chance encounter with a vision of your mother, right after she had given you permission to skip the trip—her slightly confused frown, then a soft smile. Her voice when she says, “Sure.” The gray strands of hair starting to grow on her head.

You went out to the beach that day with Sehun, a floppy sunhat in hand. The sun had warmed the sand just right; you had no problems marching close to the water barefoot. When he noticed that there were no turtles laying eggs just yet, Sehun let out a groan. “No turtles today. I’ll get us some sodas.” He trudged up to the nearby soda stand and left you crouched near the water.

That afternoon, the water was still and calm. You found yourself fixated on its gentle lap against the sand. Sometimes, the water reached your toes, tickled them for a second. You had no reason to be sure, but you must have spent about half an hour just looking onwards. When Sehun came back with sodas, he remarked, “You and the water, huh? Always.” He grinned. “Here’s your soda.”

He sat on the sand beside you and looked ahead. “I think our next door neighbors are moving out tomorrow. Celia from the soda stand said she heard from her husband—works at the movers’—that they’re picking their stuff up later tonight.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, let’s go back soon? I forgot my phone in the house. I want to text Dad that we didn’t see any turtles today.”

“Let’s admire the water first.”

*

Sehun started walking briskly to school. You were still at your doorstep, pretending to fumble with the keys, mumbling. _Please._ _He must have woken up late._ “Hold on, Sehun! I’m trying to lock the door.” Sehun looks back at you from the street corner and says, “I have to hurry. I’m trying to get there in time for track sign-ups.”

Your calm starts to falter. “What do you mean?” You whimper.

“What? I need to get to school now. Is it all right? You still have time to catch up. Don’t worry. I’ll see you later. Just text me if anything comes up.”

You take a glance at the house beside yours, your ears now ringing with the sound of the gentle water, then the rushing wave. You shout at Sehun.

“Isn’t your friend Minseok walking with us?”


End file.
